I just finished looking at the galaries. That is some amazing work! The water in this pic just blows my mind! This is easily the best rendition of water I've ever seen. It actually seems to get deeper in the middle of the pond. From what I can see, there are at least 3 shades of blue under those tiles. The depth of talent in Germany is just incredible!

Yes this is based on a real building. I hate it when I can not remember the building's name It has a church on the lower level and a governmental center/throne room on the upper level with a balcony. I also can not remember where this one is located but I am sure one of the European members will fill us in with the details.

This is Albirona's new home. Eventually the story will follow.
The original, Santa Maria del Naranco, stands near Oviedo in Spain and looks like this (I photographed the pic from a book because I did'n t find an adequate pic somewhere on the internet (In fact there are dozens of pics with this building but I wanted exactly this one.)):
It's a pre-romanesque building from the 9th century that served as a palace hall first, later as a church, and now is a UNESCO world heritage.

Bye
Jojo

This is just the sort of nonsense up with which I will not put.Winston Churchill

Bruce N H wrote:Also, can you tell us anything about this creation? It looks as if it's the Dead Marshes from Lord of the Rings. Do you know who the builder is and if they have a gallery or website?

The Dead Marshes are exactly what this is. It was built by 14-year-old Diana, the daughter of Stefan Vorst (builder of this and this). Stefan only illuminated the flames and the heads of the dead (Snape heads). The dead are cleverly placed under a layer of transparent bricks or panels to get the effect of water over them. No LEGO was harmed by illuminating the minifig heads because the wires are thin enough to pass through the space between the head and the neck of the torso.

Bye
Jojo

This is just the sort of nonsense up with which I will not put.Winston Churchill